Partners for Life
by Muffinizer
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Left FanFiction . net. Thank you for reading!
1. Arrested

_Partners for Life_

_Chapitre One_

_Arrested_

**It's my _Tales of Symphonia_ story! – Gasp – You know, I had a ton of idea for _Symphonia_, but I never got it uploaded on since I was afraid it'd look odd. But now I'm rather proud of my grammar and writing abilities (only because people say it kicks ass) so yeah… I hope you enjoy this story!**

**Note: Alternate Universe, which means that it doesn't follow the storyline. At all. Got it? Good. And those who don't support/like Mithos x Genis (Oh dear God!) or, for the Niflheim of it, don't like shounen-ai press the back button. Then again, all my stories say what the couple is. You _should_ be able to tell what gender they are. … Unless you're gender confused… Uhh.**

**Another Note: (I swear to God, someone will kill be one day for putting so many of these things. O.o.) Since this is also AU, some of the characters will be kinda off. Like Genis, for example. He curses a lot and is violent, not the wimpy kid he is in the game. **

**Disclaimer: _Tales of Symphonia_ belongs to Namco-Bandai, the Tales Studios, and the person who created the characters. Was it Kosuke Fujishima? Something like that, right? I don't know; I have short term memory loss, darn it!**

**Summary: One rebel trying to free the half-elves. One boy leading a group of Anti-Discriminators. Both end up in a jail cell, only to free themselves and continue their pursuit of justice. And during the midst of all that, they were somehow chained together by fate as partners in crime.**

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"_You work with me, and we might as well get the hell out of here."_

…

"Burn down the buildings! Save the half elves! Give them back their freedom!"

The shouts were yelled out in the intellectual town of Sybak, ringing through the near empty inn and wide buildings. Many people opened their windows to get a look see of what was going on. And they were shocked with what they saw.

A couple of people, not much older in their late teens, were holding white signs that had, in red paint, "No Discrimination against Half-Elves!" There was a shorter one among them, jumping up and down and shouting the loudest of them all.

"Let them go! They have the right to live peacefully in any town, not in some filthy basement as lab rats!" he screeched, his shrill cry making everyone cover their ears. He ignored the looks he received from the scientists and librarians, rambling on and on about how it was unfair to the half-elves.

"Go home, kid," one lady muttered as he walked back into the library. "You're disturbing everyone's studying time."

Others murmured in agreement, turning their backs at the commotion the group made at the centre of the town. The boy growled and his grip on his picket sign tightened until the wood dug so deep into his skin that he began bleeding.

"We won't give up!" There was a cheer behind them, where the people raised their picket signs once more. "Not until we get the freedom that God promised us!" People groaned and shooed them away, telling them that they were too noisy and just annoying.

"What do we want?"

"Freedom!"

"When do we want it?"

"Now!"

"How do we want it?"

"Like any other captive held in a prison would!"

…

Horses were mounted with leather saddles, all ready for a journey ahead of them. People were scrambling back and forth, getting bags and pouches of water, scrolls and weapons of all kinds. Among them stood two young men, eyeing everyone that passed by. One of them flipped their golden hair with a huff, rubbing his eyes in boredom.

"Yuan, when are we going?" the blond muttered, shooting the taller one a look. Said man shrugged and began playing with the dark cape draped over his shoulders.

"Just be patient, will you?"

"I can't be patient," the blond moaned as he clung to the man's arm, "because we're going to raid Sybak today!" Yuan rolled his eyes and shrugged the boy's scrawny arms off his own.

"Really; you're a fourteen year old mastermind, yet you act like a five year old at times," Yuan smirked, enjoying the reaction he got from the small blond.

"Five year old? Excuse me; you should know exactly how old I am, Yuan!"

The blue haired man laughed, throwing his head back as usual. "This conversation about your age never gets old."

…

_How did this happen?_

A second ago, the boy just closed his eyes for a brief second, and then there was a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Before he knew it, he fell forward and his world went black, blocking him out from reality for a while.

But then he woke up, and he realized that he wasn't on the grounds of Sybak.

_I swear to God, I'll kick whoever in the ass that just stuffed me here…_ he grimaced, grinding the back of his teeth together dangerously. There were groans to his left and when he glanced that way, he gasped. One of the boys from the group was scrambled on the floor, picket sign on his back and blood seeping from one of the wounds on his arm.

"Lloyd, wake up!" he called, shaking his friend up carefully. Hazel eyes snapped open and Lloyd let out a shout, jumping to his feet and grabbing the boy by the neck. His sight cleared after there was a gasp coming from the strangled boy.

Lloyd's eyes widened in disbelief and quickly dropped his friend to the ground with a thump. "Genis, where are we?" he asked, whipping his head from left to right as he examined the cell they were in. The boy, Genis, rubbed his backside in pain from the fall.

"I get a feeling that we're somewhere in the Church in Meltokio," Genis replied with a grim look on his face. "I think someone just knocked me out and stuffed me into this cell."

"And that's exactly what happened."

The boys' eyes darted to where the voice came from, and in shock they saw an elderly man dressed in elegant clothes of the Church, wearing a silk crown that was placed on top his head. In his hands was a staff and a crystal attached with runes scribbled along the pole.

"The Pope!" The small boy jumped before the bars that separated him from the Pope and threw a blow at the elderly man, missing by a centimeter. Then there was a bigger, rougher hand that suddenly grabbed his forearm with such strength that Genis thought his arm broke in half. Quickly the man behind the bars, hidden by the shadows, twisted his arm completely arm, just to make Genis cry out in pain.

"Oh my God," he gritted out with his eyes shut closed tightly. With his arm still twisted completely behind his back, Genis slumped to the ground with his back against the bars. "Damn."

The man gave another sharp tug, earning him another cry from the young boy before he let go and kicked him deeper into the cell. "Don't try hurting the Pope again."

Genis tried getting up from his position but failed, falling back down weakly onto the ground without the support of his left arm. He groaned in pain, wiggling slowly towards Lloyd, where he sat down flabbergasted.

"But, Sire, why are you going against half-elves?" Lloyd blurted up, shaking his fist to express his anger. The Pope didn't respond and snapped his gloved fingers instead, drawing the two boys' attention to the door that opened and let in light. They squinted at the sudden brightness.

Then walked in a kid dressed in white and blue garments, with blond hair that went down to his middle back, being led by guards. Genis eyed the boy who held his chin up high, ignoring the spear that continuously jabbed into his ribs. Behind him was a scowling blue headed man, a few feet taller than the blond, trying to shoo away the guards.

"I don't deserve this," he scowled. "If only Kratos didn't kick me out of the apartment in Luin."

The Pope turned around, smiling in a darkening way as he pointed to another cell beside where Genis and Lloyd were. His men nodded once and unlocked the cage's door, shoving the two into the cell. Scowling, Genis got up and began kicking at the bars, yelling and cursing in words that the Pope couldn't make out.

"Silence, insolent fool!" the Pope barked as he took the end of his staff and harshly jabbed Genis in the stomach through a space between the bars. The boy fell back with a grunt, clutching his stomach with his right arm.

"Shall we take the human out, Sire?" a soldier asked. He glanced at Lloyd who was trying to help Genis back up and gave a nod of confirmation.

The same soldier faced Lloyd with a blank look on his face. "Lloyd Irving, adopted son of Dirk in Iselia, you have a chance of fleeing from starvation and death, as long as you don't return to rescue your friend Genis here."

"I can't do that!" Lloyd retorted, shaking his head. "Genis is my friend, and I won't leave him here." In return, Genis kicked Lloyd in the back side to cut him off. The brunet looked over his shoulder to find a distressed Genis swaggering side to side as he struggled to stay up.

"Fool, what do you think you're doing? Leave me; I'm the one who dragged you into this," Genis spat, his usually calm eyes glaring down at the Pope. "If you don't leave, you'll just be killed. Some people don't have mercy upon others."

Realizing that the last comment was directed at him, the Pope snorted. "Is that your final choice, Lloyd Irving? We'll promise you that both of you will die at the same time, so no one feels bad if one dies before the other."

Lloyd squeezed his eyes shut, his frame shaking slightly. "Fine," was his weak reply, and he opened one eye to glance back at Genis. The brunet gave him a smile, tilting his head to the side.

"I'll come back to save you," he whispered just so Genis could hear was he was saying. The boy struggled to give back a wavering smile, nodding at Lloyd as a farewell. One soldier stepped up and unlocked the door, quickly grabbing Lloyd by the arm and tugging him out, slamming the door shut once more.

"All right; escort him back to Iselia now; don't let him wander around!" the soldier called out, locking the cell with a key. He nodded at the Pope and turned to leave the basement as well with his fellow comrades.

As soon as they left, the Pope let out a dark chuckle, one that sent uncomfortable shivers down Genis' spine. "And you know that all those half-elves who don't agree to work under the Church will either be executed or put as enemies in the coliseum, yes?"

Genis muttered a "Yes", not daring to look up at his defiant eyes. The Pope laughed again, tapping the tip of his staff on the cold, dirt floor.

"Very well. As for you, Mithos Yggdrasill," the high priest grunted, pointing the crystal end at the blond boy in the next cell over, "you will be automatically executed with no choice. Let's see how your 'Anti-Discrimination' group stands then, huh?"

Yuan, the blue haired half-elf, snapped back at the Pope. "As long as they have the willpower to free all half-elves, they will succeed!"

Mithos said nothing however, clamping his mouth shut and closing his eyes in silence. The Pope grinned at his silent reaction.

"I take it that you understand. Your execution will be in two days; so pray with all your heart to the Goddess Martel to cleanse your sins in the next forty eight hours," he grinned lethally. He left with that final statement, opening the door to let in a brief ray of light, until he slammed it shut and locked it from the outside.

Genis let out a sigh, throwing his arms up in the air.

"So, what're you arrested for?" the blond asked quietly, his eyes still closed shut. One of Genis' eyes glanced to the left where Mithos sat and he arched an eyebrow. For a kid who was going to be executed, Genis thought, he was pretty calm about death.

"For leading the whole 'free the half-elf kind' uproar in Sybak." Genis laughed to himself as he reflected on what seemed like a futile effort back in the town to free the half-elves in the academy.

Mithos' eyes opened that time and he immediately crawled toward the bars that separated Genis and him. "Free the half-elves? You mean you're against discrimination?" he asked with a tint of surprise and amusement deep within his voice. In response the short kid nodded. He was too tired to say anything back.

"Mithos, it seems as if the young half-elf is tired. Let him rest," Yuan spoke up after a long moment of silence, dragging the boy away from Genis.

The blond smiled to himself as he slumped down the wall in boredom.

"Tomorrow, we'll think of a plan to escape. You'll help, right… Genis?"

Genis' eyes widened and he stared at the blond.

"You've gotta be kidding-!"

"Good night, Genis."

…

He didn't like this at all. Not one bit of the plan seemed amusing to him.

Genis Sage, proud brother of the archaeologist Professor Raine Sage, did not want to help this evil, mastermind of a kid.

"It's simple," Mithos drawled, waving his hand in the air as if it was nothing. "I've escaped small jails before, and this is nothing! They're all built the same, so I know the weaknesses of each structure. Believe me, Genis Sage; this escape will be as easy as pie."

However, digging a hole without getting caught and killed in the ground near the bars was rather difficult to him.

_Why did I join this plan again?_ Genis thought to himself, tapping his chin with a finger. _Oh right. It went just like this._

"Genis Sage, don't doubt me! You help me and I'll help you. Together, we'll be partners in crime," Mithos announced, flipping his hair over his shoulder with a grin. Genis rolled his eyes at his pretty boy act.

"Look, I don't think I can-."

"You work with me, and we might as well get the hell out of here, Genis. If we work together, we might have a chance of bringing half-elves from shame."

_So that's what got my attention. The whole half-elf business_, he thought grumpily, attacking the soil with his aching fingers.

"We might have a chance of bringing half-elves from shame!" Genis muttered in a mocking tone, eyebrows furrowed together. However, Mithos caught onto what he said.

"Excuse me, Genis?"

"Nothing."

Panting, the boy dug deeper, glancing up every five seconds to make sure that no soldier, or even the Pope himself, came in to do a daily roundabout in the basement. Digging hurriedly, Genis winced as one of his nails scraped against a big rock deep within the soil. "Ow," he hissed, pulling out his finger and inspected his throbbing index finger. "Man, I didn't expect myself to get this dirty."

Genis glanced to the side and swore he felt his lower jaw drop to the floor as he saw Mithos already done with a four foot wide, three foot deep hole near the door. He frowned and stared at the eight inches by eleven inch hole he made. Somehow, the great, rebellious leader of his group seemed pathetic compared to Mithos.

Noticing his struggling, Mithos laughed loudly, his chuckle alluring and twinkling. "Having trouble there, Genis?" he asked in mockery, a dirty smirk kicking into place. Genis rolled his eyes and shrugged him off, continuing his digging.

After a few moments of dirt scraping against fingers and panting, Genis let out a shout of frustration. "That's it!" he yelled out, turning around and, with his right arm, grabbed at the picket sign that the soldiers didn't take.

"Idiots," he sneered, inspecting the sign. "They didn't take everything away from me."

"Exactly," Mithos added as he watched the half-elf start digging a hole furiously with the end of his picket sign. "The weakness of every jail is the soldiers; they have no brains whatsoever."

"I finished!" Yuan exclaimed as he shrugged off his cloak and stuffed it through the bars. "Mithos, I'll go through first and try getting a shotgun. I'll knock the guards out without anyone noticing, got it?" The blond simply nodded an affirmative, making way for Yuan to crawl through the hole.

The blue haired man reached down for his cloak and secured it tightly around his neck as he managed to get to the other side. Rummaging through one of the nearest closets, Yuan snickered as he found a shotgun and several keys alone, free to take. "Bingo."

Cocking the gun, he stuffed it into one of the hoops of his belts and made way back to the cells. Genis was too busy trying to dig his way through to realize that the door swung open before him. Mithos had to tap him on the head to catch his attention several times. His silver bangs whipped up at his face as he glanced upwards, shock replacing all looks of determination.

"B-But how? When? Did you just-?"

The blond coughed and pointed at the door swinging open freely to the right, chortling behind his hand. Genis flushed a bright pink, picking himself from the ground and dusting off all dirt on his blue shorts. "Right."

…

"So you made me dig a whole just to test me strength?" Genis snapped quietly as he watched Yuan knock out several guards with his gun.

"Yep," Mithos replied casually, following Yuan quietly as backup, holding a silenced gun in his hand too. "Here, you might need this." The blond tossed a spare shotgun at Genis, who caught it hesitantly.

"You want me to shoot people?"

"Yep."

Several guards caught sight of the three with guns and immediately called for help. "Three intruders with weapons! Get-!"

The guard fell forward without another word, dropping his spear onto the carpeted ground with a soft thump. Mithos grinned wickedly.

"Nice aim, Sage."

"Thanks."

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**Meh… There goes my first _Symphonia_ story. Y'know, I don't think the story will come out that badly, since 1. I love half-elves and 2. I love Genis and Mithos. I wonder… will Lloyd return? What happened to Yuan as he got kicked out by Kratos? Will any other character jump in out of no where?**

**Who knows?**

**Please review; drop a comment, or constructive criticism. Reminder: I finished this in a day and well, it's not the best of all my works out there so far. I put almost every other story on hiatus (except for like, one _Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE _story) so I'll have time writing this.**

**Edit One: I changed the jail area to the one in the Church/Castle area. Y'know where all the captives are held? Yeah, that place.**

**I can tell that this'll be fun.**

**Genis: You're not going to torture me anymore, right?**

**Me: … Uhh… right?**

**(Wow, I haven't done that before. O.o)**

**-Muffinizer, squeak**


	2. Trust

_Partners for Life_

_Chapitre Two_

_Trust_

**And I come back with the second chapitre. Huzzah! – Blows confetti stuff – Anyway, let's move on.**

**Thanks to _Meowzy-chan_ for actually putting this story on her favourite list. I don't think a lot of mine were put on a favourite list the first chapitre. Hmm, make. But either way, thanks. :D And to _LittleLinor_ too! Everyone needs an evil Mithos… – Cackles – Muhahaha!**

**Note: The beginning is a little flashback thing about what happened to Mithos and Yuan while they were leaving for Sybak. Oh! And the worlds are together, not split apart as Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Mmkay? Good.**

**Disclaimer: _Tales of Symphonia_ belongs to Namco-Bandai, Tales Studio, yadda yadda. Seriously though; can I have Kratos? Please? Please?**

**Summary: One rebel trying to free the half-elves. One boy leading a group of Anti-Discriminators. Both end up in a jail cell, only to free themselves and continue their pursuit of justice. And during the midst of all that, they were somehow chained together by fate as partners in crime.**

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"_You think I can learn to trust you when you can't even trust me? Where's the trust in that, damn it?"_

Mithos wasn't really planning to run over Sybak with his crew and burn down the library. No, one of his friends, Kratos, worked there as a scientist; once he got back, the auburn haired man would surely strangle him to death for burning down his precious history books.

_Who cares about history anyway?_ Mithos thought lazily, slumping forward slightly as the foothills of southern Sybak were bothering him greatly. He swore that the men behind him were snickering behind his back. Yuan was trotting along beside him with his chestnut beauty, inspecting the pale faced boy with worried eyes.

"Mithos, are you sick again? I thought you never got sick when riding on Flare," he muttered, glancing down at the pure white stallion Mithos was riding. Mithos couldn't respond; if he opened his mouth, surely he would throw up.

As they reached the entrance of Sybak, Yuan noticed that the atmosphere was thicker than usual. _When I come here with Kratos_,he thought, arching an eyebrow, _the atmosphere is a lot… cheerful._

The blond leader of the Anti-Discrimination group slid off his stallion with a grunt, searching frantically for a facility he could quickly use to get rid of his stomach problem. "It's not Flare," he scolded himself as he busted into the inn. "I think it's the sudden thick air."

Reappearing into the streets of Sybak as quick as he disappeared, Mithos let out a strangled breath of air. What he saw before him was something he definitely didn't want to see in his lifetime.

Yuan, being something like the Vice President of the Anti-Discrimination group, was fist fighting with a fellow scientist of the Sybak Research Academy. He leaped down the stairs, trying to pull away the blue haired half-elf away from the human.

"Stop it this instant, Yuan! Fighting with the humans wasn't a part of our plan!" Mithos yelled out, hoping his shout would reach him through the shouting around him.

There was a hand that came around his skinny arm, immediately pulling him out of the crowd.

"I thought we got rid of you!" one of the soldiers shouted, throwing Mithos onto the ground. The boy glanced upward and saw a few Imperial Guards with their weapons glooming down at the blond, ready to give him a beating.

_But for what?_ Mithos thought grimly as he felt himself being picked up by one of the gloved hands once more. He looked to the right and saw Yuan struggling against the grip of two soldiers, kicking and blowing random attacks at their masked faces.

"I swear on Martel's name, if you don't let me go, we'll come back here and burn this city down!" he barked, nailing one man in the face with his shin. A soldier yanked his head back by his ponytail, earning a cry from the half-elf.

"Shut up, half-elf."

The group, along with Mithos' and Yuan's horses, fled Sybak quickly without a second glance, leaving the leaders in the group of Meltokio's Imperial Guards.

_I knew I couldn't trust those people…_

Mithos and Yuan were simultaneously pushed to the ground without care, and then dragged off by the feet harshly.

Scientists were glaring at them, muttering behind their hands to the person beside them.

"Didn't another kid lead a rebellion like this?"

"I just don't understand why these little brainless kids actually try freeing the half-elves. They're fine the way they are."

"Once they get rid of those rebels, I think we can go back to our studies peacefully."

Mithos growled as he tried to kick one of the guards in the shin, but failed miserably as he felt a bag being thrown over his face. He let out a shout.

"Hey, you better not-!"

Suddenly searing pain spread throughout his face as one of the soldiers punched him in the face to shut him up, silencing the boy for another couple of hours on their trek to Meltokio.

…

Genis stared in disbelief, blinking his azure eyes at the blond half-elf before him. Then he realized that his story about being knocked out from behind unknowingly was just as worse as this one. And soon, he was doubling over, laughing loudly as skittered along the carpeted floor of the Meltokio Castle with no one noticing them.

"Don't laugh!" Mithos hissed as he felt his face go red in embarrassment. He told the younger half-elf to shut up because one, if he laughed hard enough they'd be caught and two, his laughter wasn't helping at all.

Noticing that the boy didn't shut up, he punched him in the back, making him tumble over onto the ground in shock. Genis let out a yell, alarming several duchesses near one of the rooms. Their eyes locked down on the half-elves, and they screamed.

"Run for it!" Yuan yelled; he grabbed Genis by his long lock of silver hair and dragged him down the stairs before any soldier could see them. The poor half-elf boy had to bite his lip hard to keep himself from screaming on top of his lungs.

Mithos, luckily, just had to hop right down beside Yuan, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.

"Yggdrasill," Yuan barked as he grabbed the blond by his ear, earning him a squeak, "no dilly-dawdling! Do you want to be skinned by those freaks?" Simply he shook his head and let Yuan drag him along painfully.

…

The guards were at their heels and Yuan tried hurrying the best he could. He muttered something about not meeting up with such trouble in his life. Genis, still being pulled by the hair, swore that Yuan pulled at least fifty hairs out and counting.

Women and children gasped and turned to stare at the commotion coming from the top level of Meltokio. They backed away as Imperial Guards were chasing three boys who, for people that were about to get chopped up alive by the soldier's spears, were perfectly fine in the situation.

Well, make that two.

Genis was too busy kicking his legs and trying to pull himself away from Yuan's grasp, acting like a complete lunatic. The blue haired half-elf groaned and was just about to let go of Genis' hair, when he felt something nail him right in the back. Letting out a breath, Yuan fell forward with no one to catch him, collapsing onto the cobblestone path that led down to the second set of stairs in the city.

At the same time, both boys stumbled onto their backs as Yuan let go of them during his fall. Genis' blue eyes widened again as he saw the armored men stomp towards them, weapons high up in the air.

Then there was music playing, a soft, sweet melody right beside him. The half-elf boy whipped his head to the side and frowned when he saw Mithos playing on a wooden windpipe.

"Mithos, I don't think this is the time to be playing the flute!" he yelled, trying to pick up Yuan's stiff body and grab the pipe out of the blonde's hand at the same time. Mithos snapped back at him.

"For your information, it's a windpipe, not a flute."

Genis rolled his eyes and was about to yell back, when suddenly there was barking noises from not too far away. Their eyes shifted to the side, one pair in surprise and the other in amusement, as a dog – no, more like a fish and a canine combined – came rushing towards them, knocking into the soldiers with a howl.

"Yuan!" someone cried, running after the dog and glancing around quickly. As the man's eyes met the limp, stiff figure in Genis' arms, he sprinted towards the two kids and grabbed the man into his arms, crushing him in a hug.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you out yesterday, Yuan!" he muttered as he buried his face into the crook of Yuan's neck. Mithos quickly stuffed his windpipe into one of his pockets, turning to face Genis and held out a hand.

"Hurry while Noishe distracts the guards. We have to get Yuan out of here before someone gets severely hurt," the blond whispered in his ear, tugging Genis sharply by his right arm and dashing down the stairs right before them. Soon enough, the man with Yuan was right beside the two, with the unconscious half-elf slung over his shoulders.

"All right, let's get back to the base," he ordered in a gruff voice. Genis blinked at him for a split second, until the man pulled out a sword from his hilt. Then he froze in shock.

_Is he going to kill me?_

The man stopped as they reached the bottom level of Meltokio and quickly slammed the tip of the double-edged sword into the ground. He shouted, "Teleport!"

Genis closed his eyes tightly as a binding light flooded the area, making his eyes water. He felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and tug, but Genis didn't do anything since he couldn't see.

"Genis, hold tight!" he heard Mithos shout out a second before he felt two lean arms around his waist, secured tight.

Then, as the binding light vanished, as he opened his eyes, Genis fell into complete darkness again.

This time, he wasn't knocked out in the back by some guard.

…

Genis wondered why the world went dark suddenly.

He wondered why everything, the darkness and all, was spinning around him.

And he also wondered why, as he looked up in confusion, Mithos was holding onto him tightly.

No, not holding. Hugging.

The half-elf was about to open his mouth to speak, to tell the blond that he was currently being suffocated by his ridiculously strong arms. But the light returned as quickly as it left, leaving Genis wincing and letting out another shriek.

He collapsed backwards – "Whoa" – and knew he landed on something soft.

_Correction_, he thought_, some 'thing'._

Peeking down below, he noticed that a pale hand was twitching lightly above his stomach, making him giggle childishly. Looking further down, he saw two more legs extended out underneath, clothed in teal coloured pants.

_Now who would wear such horrid pants?_ Genis thought to himself in curiosity. _I never really saw someone wear teal pants-_

"Sage! Get off me!" the thing beneath him shouted, trying to push him small body off. Genis leaped up, looking down and immediately blushing as he saw Mithos sprawled all over the sandy floor, growling at him.

"You idiot, help me up!" Mithos ordered, extending his arm wrapped in blue bracelets near the wrist. The half-elf huffed and bent down, pulling the blond up forcefully. They ended up chest to chest, both staring at each other for a brief second before turning around and snorting.

"Mithos are you okay?" the man that held Yuan in one of his arms asked, patting Mithos on the head. "For a fourteen year old, you sure are bossy." Mithos scowled. There everyone went, making fun of his age.

Mithos mumbled something under his breath that Genis couldn't make out. He poked Yuan once and asked, "Damn it, what happened to Yuan?" The man shrugged as he fixed the dark cape tied around him.

"We should wake him up later. I think someone got him in the back; if not, then just from stress," he explained, laying Yuan down on the ground. "Yuan, wake up." He shook his body lightly, his own floating slightly above it. The half-elf didn't stir, which worried Mithos greatly.

"He's the strong type; wouldn't he wake up right now?" the blond asked, scratching his chin. Genis peeked over the man's shoulder, staring down at the blue bangs that spread all over his forehead messily.

"Hey, who are you anyway?" the young half-elf asked. He poked the man on the shoulder in an inquiring way, catching his attention. The auburn haired man casted a glance over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow.

"Kratos Aurion, second guardian of Yggdrasill here," he responded and nodded his head to the blond beside him. Mithos rolled his eyes; he let out a sigh and punched Kratos on the shoulder.

"I thought I told you not to call me Yggdrasill, Kratos."

"Hmm…"

All eyes were on the stirring figure trapped on the floor between Kratos' arms. Slowly his eyes opened, and once he regained his focus, his eyes locked on Kratos' crimson ones.

"Eh, Kratos, am I back in the apartment?" Yuan managed to get out, propping his arms down below him to get a better look around. The first thing he saw was Genis and his incredibly long silver hair, miles and miles of sand, and then to his left Mithos and his glowering azure eyes.

_Uh-oh_, Yuan thought to himself with a gulp. _Yuan and glowering usually equals to a massive headache in the morning…_

"Yuan, do you know how much you worried me?" Mithos exploded, grabbing the half-elf by the shoulders and shaking him with such strength and Yuan swore he felt his arms pop out of its sockets somehow. Genis watched the whole yelling and retorting before his eyes, horrified by the angered blond.

_Note to self_, he muttered, crawling away ever so slowly, _never anger Mithos…_

…

"This is a base?" Genis asked in a tone that didn't sound so amused, scrunching his nose at the paintings and several pots of plants in the corner of rooms. "Yuan, you work in here?"

The blue haired half-elf didn't reply and kept his eyes straight ahead, still not over the beating he received from the triumphant blond. Kratos had to answer for him with a simple nod, pointing at the huge portrait of Yuan near the desk.

"Now," Mithos said after a moment of awkward silence in the base, "we have to solve a problem here quickly. It only takes one thing to do to solve it." Three pairs of eyes blinked at the leader, watching him closely as he searched through Yuan's desk and swore when he couldn't find what he was looking for.

Genis, obviously bored from watching Mithos looking over and over for the item, played with one of his silver bangs with his index finger.

"I got it!" Mithos shouted out in triumph, pulling something out that clanked and rattled inside the drawer. "I'm serious, Yuan, get a housewife to clean it up. Or become one for Kratos, jeez," the blond growled as he slammed the drawer shut. Yuan didn't say anything; neither did Kratos.

The blond walked up to where Genis was playing with his hair and bent down, taking one of his unoccupied hands.

"Genis…" he started out calmly, looking into Genis' orbs, "you promise you won't run away from me after I do this?" The half-elf didn't know what to say; what exactly was he going to do anyway?

"Good."

And with that, Mithos pulled out whatever item his had behind his back and clamped it shut over Genis' wrist, then his. He yanked tightly at the metal chain that connected the handcuffs together.

"You can't run away from me like this, anyway," Mithos snickered, sitting up and pulling hard with his wrist. Genis stood up immediately and let out a yell at the sudden harsh move.

"What the hell is this for?" he snapped, holding up the chain with the hand that wasn't handcuffed to Mithos'. Genis stared down at Kratos and Yuan who were sitting on one of the chairs in the room, minding their own business. He picked up random words about Sybak, passing out, being bagged by soldiers and running through Meltokio like some madman.

"Mithos." The younger half-elf said it with such a serious tone that no sense of humor could be found underneath the layer of seriousness. "Tell me what you're doing to me with these… handcuffs."

Of course the boy didn't give back an immediate reply. He wandered around the room, testing the strength and length of the metal chain, inspecting it with such curious and observing eyes that Genis wondered if this was the same foolish and violent Mithos he met moments ago. "Well, answer me!"

"Oh," was the blonde's reply as he snapped back to reality. "I didn't want you running off and ratting me out or anything. Think about it this way, Sage; this metal chain here is a bond between us half-elves. If you don't break the bond, that means you trust me. And then maybe I can learn to trust you when it comes to freeing half-elves. Get what I'm saying?" Hearing no reply, he let out a frustrated sigh and started over.

"Simply put, I don't trust you, all right? I'm thinking that if we chain ourselves together, maybe we could grow some trust between us!" He pointed to the metal cuffed at their wrist, throwing on a grin. Genis ducked his head, shutting his eyes for a brief second before,

"You think I can learn to trust you when you can't trust me just because of this stupid piece of metal?" Genis yelled, surprising the other three in the room. "Where's the trust in that, damn it?"

The blond shrugged. "I gave it a shot. Maybe if we got to learn about each other-"

"No!" he interrupted him, shaking his head like Lloyd would have done. "I'm not learning anything about you; I don't want to know anything about you and your anti-discrimination group! And if you can't trust me, why should I trust you? Maybe you were using me before in the Castle, just to have another guy shoot away for your own freedom. Maybe I was using you to escape just for my free will! How about that?"

Mithos' eyebrow shot up and after he registered what the short half-elf said, he doubled over in laughter. However, Genis didn't understand why he was laughing.

"Stop laughing! I'm serious here; let me go. I'm not teaming up with you. I'm going back to Iselia and that's final!" he proclaimed, stomping his foot on the carpeted floor. The blond boy stopped laughing and stared at him with tearing eyes.

"Sorry, I don't have a key."

Genis stood there in silence as Mithos continued laughing at him, his frame shaking so violently that Yuan thought he was about to erupt. "Oh yeah?" he muttered in what seemed like a murderous tone. "Well then I'll just drag you to Iselia, and maybe during our trip there we could learn to 'trust each other'!"

The leader of the Anti-Discrimination group stopped laughing and looked at the shorter kid with a serious look on his face. "You're kidding right? That town absolutely hates half-elves."

Genis snorted and shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "I'm going and you're not stopping me." He turned to leave where he came in, dragging a helpless Mithos along with him.

"A-All right, all right!" Mithos stammered, pulling back at the chain. "Here, just work with me, please? You want to end discrimination as much as I do. So why don't we help each other? It's for our kind, remember?" The silver haired elf scoffed, throwing his free arm in the air.

"There you go again, using that 'save our kind' phrase! You act as if this is some kind of game, Mithos!" Genis retorted angrily. Really though, the kid hated being around certain people who could act so childishly at times; being chained to one was just like suffering a slow, painful death.

Mithos frowned and scratched his head with his chained hands, bringing Genis' arm with him. "Oh, whoops, sorry," he apologized meekly, letting his arm fall down to his leg. "It's a habit."

Taking a moment to sort everything out, Mithos came up with something simple. "I know it seems that I'd have more of an advantage here, but hear me out. If you work with me, I won't do anything that will bother you. When we go to bed, when we take a shower; that's the time I'll let you go. But you're chained up after that."

Genis turned his back once more, forcing Mithos to follow his path. "It's like I'm being forced to do this against my will."

"But you're giving up your freedom, one soul, for the entire elf kind. Think about it, will you Genis?"

He stood there, deciding, lower lip sticking out like a spoiled kid upset because he couldn't get a toy he wanted. "This is only for a while. After that moment, you unchain me."

Mithos blinked and stared at Genis so long that the boy began to fidget under his stare. "So what you're saying is that you're agreeing to work with me that easily? Wow. I thought I'd have to hold you in captivity until you gave up and agreed to work with me."

"What?"

…

"Then it's decided," Mithos announced after receiving a few wild kicks and punches from the enraged silver haired boy. "Genis will work with us as a part of the Anti-Discrimination group for a few months; then we'll release him and let him go back to Iselia. But," the blond paused to give him a stern look, "if he rats out on us to any person outside of his organization, we'll cut off his head."

Genis gasped. "You didn't mention that before!"

The leader shot him a look again, shutting the boy up.

_Boy, when Mithos gets all businessman-like, he sure is scary._

"Any objections?" Mithos scanned the audience before him, who was, of course, only Genis, Yuan and Kratos, and was pleased to see no hands up. "Very good." He focused his attention on Genis and gave a genuine smile.

"Welcome to Organization Eight, now renamed as Organization Nine."

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**Again, a crappy ending. I mean, c'mon. 'Organization Nine?' What kind of crappy name is that?**

**You should know why it's called Organization Nine; all Tales fans should figure it out somehow.**

**I kinda stole it from Organization Thirteen of _Kingdom Hearts_ too… My bad.**

**Whoa, Genis throwing a temper tantrum in the middle there, eh? Sorry, the chapitre really didn't make sense to me as I was writing it. Especially the whole 'trusting' part. Sorry. **

**Hmm… that was so lame. I'm sorry. I'm sure that once this story gets into its actual plot with the group and Anti-Discrimination plans it'll be much better than it is now.**

**Note: Yes. I know. Before you tell me, I _know_ that Mithos is rather odd in this story. Hey, it's alternate universe. I'll make Mithos act however I want, just following the lines of his basic characteristics in the game.**

**Okay, now that this is finished, I'm gonna go to sleep. If I have a snow day tomorrow at school, well then, that just proves that God loves me. Haha.**

**Drop a review please! Anything. Maybe even an alert list thing, C2 category, or even a _favorite_ list… o3o**

**-Muffinizer, pon**


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